Display dolly



I... A. GEISTERT DISPLAY DOLLY Jan. 1'], 1950 2 'Sheets-Sheet 2 FiledOct. 17, 1947 INVENTOR. /.EW/5 A. GE/5TERT Patented Jan. 17, 1950DISPLAY DOLLY Lewis A. Geistert, Grand. Rapids, Mieh., assignor toSimplex Display Fixture Company, Grand Rapids, Mieh., a corporation ofMichigan Applieation (ictober 17, 1947, Serial No. 780,519

6 Claims.

This invention re1ates to display racks and more particularly to edisplay rack designed to act also as a truck or dolly a.nd having a selfcontained loading ramp.

Although the idea of a, series of supporting roliers mounted on a1noVable truck has been Well known for many yea.rs, such dollies havehad the disadvantage of either having a fiat material supporting surfaceWhich does not hold the material against movement or they have been inthe form of a V making them difficult t loadw Further, in thespecialized field of handling fioor covering material for displaypurposes, it is desira.ble that -such dol1y, While a,voiding these nameddisaflvantages, stili permit the roll of 111% terial to rotate whilebeing held thereon in order that such materia] may be convenientlytransferred from such do1ly te a roll-type display rack, of the typeshown in connection with my C0- pending appiieavtion fi1ed October 14,1947, Serial No. 779,777 entitled Roller mounting for vertical dispenserfi1ed concurrently herewith, without the necessity of lifting a rollbodily from the d0lly to the rack.

I heve overcome these difiiculties by providing a display dolly having aV-shaped material suppo1t of which. one side doubles as a. ading ramp.

It is, therefore, a major object of my invention to provide a. movabiedisplay doll containing a loading ramp,

It is a further objeet of my invention to provide a. dolly design whichreduces to a minimum the amount of lifting necessary to load endunload.it.

It is a, further object of my invention to provide a dolly in which the1oading ramp is carried by the supporting racks and, therefore, alwaysready foruse when wantecl.

It is a further objeet of my invention to provid.e such a d0lly andracks thereon wherein the roll supporting portions are so arranged as topermit free rotation of such rolls while ioeing supported by said do1ly.

It s an additional object of my invention to provide a ramp which isboth quick and simple to use.

Other objects and purposes of my invention will be apparent to personeacquanted With equipment of this type upon exa,minatien of theaccompanying drawings and rea,cling of the following disciosure.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a front elevationai view of my inyentiun.

Figure 2 is a side elevationa,l view of my invention showing the ramp ininoperative -position.

Figure 3 is a side elevational view of my invenl;ion showing the ramp inoperative position.

Figure 4 is an enlargecl fragmentary front elevationa] vieW of theroller mounting arrangement.

Figure 5 is a seetional view of my invention taken from a pianeindicated by V--V of Figure 1 shovving the loading ramp and loa,dingstrap in operative position.

Figure 6 is an enlarged fragmentary view of my invention showing thesupport bosses for my roller mounts.

In fulfilling the objects ancl purposes of my invention I have -provideda series of free running I011Brs mounted in the shape of a V on a truckwith at; least one side of the V capable of being pivoted. downwardly incooperation wth a pa,ir m? permanently carried, extensible handles toprovide a, loadng ramp.

In the follovving description the terms upvvard" and downward are used,and are to be taken as meaning, in relation to the invention asillustrated in the drawings. The further terms inward and outward. areto be taken as meaning inwardly toward the geometrie center of the dollyor outwardly a.way therefrom.

Referring to the drawings in detai1 the numeral I indicates a V-shapedmaterial support assembly mounted on a, truck frame 2. The materia!support assembly I consists of two pairs 0f inclined roller mounts 3eaeh pivotally mounted a,t one end 4 to the herenafter deseribed frame.The mounts are made fr0m L-shaped steel channel section with thehorizontal leg of ea;ch turned inwardlly. A support boss 5 is providednear the apposite end of each roller mount 3. This boss projectsoutw-mclly from the mount and has a shank -6 and a head L which head isof greamter diameter than the shank (Figure 6).

A spacer 33 is provided between said lower ends 4 and the verticalflange of the respective en memb-ers [9 hereinafter described. v

A handle 8 having a straight portion 9 and a. ourved end Il] is slidablymounted to each end of at least one pair of roller mounts by the hous ngH. The housing il encloses a, rectangular area of suflicientcross-seetional size to permit the handle to slicle through it yet holdit again5t turnand the resulting assembly is welcled to the horizonta.lleg of the ro1ler mount.

The rollers consist of long, tubular sections |3 having a bearng Idinserted in each end. (Figure 4). A bolt l5 is nserted through thecentral opening of the bearing and the inner race l6 of the bearing isWelded to the bo1t. The bearing |4 with the threadecl portion of the:bolt projecting outwardly is welded to the walls of the tube. By thisinstallation the rollers are enabled to turn freely with a minimumamount of eiort even under heavy loads.

The truck 2 has a rectangular frame I? consisting of two longitudinalmembers I8 and two side members [9 welded together to form a rectangle.The frame members are made from L- shaped channel section with thevertical leg 211 of the longitudinal members projecting down- Wardly andthe vertical leg 2| of the side members projecting upwardly (Figure 2).The purpose of this arrangement Will appear more fully hereafter.

Horizontally rotatable casters 22 are welded or bolted to the frame I!ateach corner thereof. A shim plate 23 is inserted between each of thesice members I!) and the casters bo account for the thickness of thehorizontal 1eg of the longitudinal frame members 98. These shim platesare welded bo the casters 22 as well as to the side frame members I9.

The hooks 24 provide a convenient attachment for a pulling means such asa strap or cord when the display dolly is moved from one placa 130another. One is provided on each end and two on each sde. They areattached to the frame l! by welding or other suitable means, such as bytapping the frame member anni threading the hooks into them.

A pair of cloth or leather straps 25 are mounted to the frame byremovably attaching them to the hooks 24 mounted on the longitudnalframe members H3 (Figures 1, 2 and 5) The purpose of these straps willappear more fully hereinafter.

A pair f support bars 27 having a rectangular, or T-shaped, crosssection are provided for each pair of roller mounts. These support barsare pivotally mountecl on their respective lower ends (when in operatingpostion) to the side frame members l9 by bolts or rivets. The other endof the support bars s formed into a V-shaped, or U-shaped, notch.

Each of the various parts such as the frame member's 18 and I9, therollers l3, roller mounts 3, and support bars 21, anni handles 3 may bemade from any suitable material having sufiicient strengthcharacteristics. Preferably, however, they are fabricated from rolledsteel sections.

The whcle is of such sze and arrangement thai; when assembled anni in.roll holding position, a standard 24 inch diameter roll of carpet s comfortably supported by the rollers only, as illustrated by the flash-dei;line A in Figure 2, but larger or smaler rolls can, if desired, be conveniently handled, as sh0Wn by the broken lines B and C in Figure 2.

Assembly The rollers l3 are mounted to the roller mounts 3 by passingthe bolts I through suitable holes drilled in the vertical leg of theroller mounts and the washers 28 and nuts 29 installed (Figure 4). Theroller and roller mount assemblies are then inserted between the sdeframe members [9, the spacers 33 placed in postion, and the bolts 30, orrivets, nserted to mount the said assemblies pivotally to the said framemembers. The mountng bolts 30 are spaced away on each side of thelongitudinal centerline of the dolly a sufficient distance that theroller mounts may be rotated atleast 45 degrees about the bolts vvithoutinterfering with each other. The spacers are of suficient thickness thatthe nuts 29 clear the said vertical flange of the respective end members|9 when the roller mount assemblies are lowered as shown in Figure 3.

The bosses 5 are removably secured in the V- shaped notches in the endsof the support bars and prevent the roller assembly from rotatingdownwardly about the bolts 39. The head 1 on each of the bosses 5prevents the support bar from slipping oli the end of the boss.

Operatz'on T0 load the dolly the handles 8 are pulled outwardly and theroller ancl roller mount assembly rotated upwardly suficiently to liftthe bosses 5 at each end thereof out of the notches in the upper ends ofthe support bars 21. After the bosses have been moved clear of thesenotches, the support bars are allovved to rotate downwardly until theytouch the floor. The roller and roller mount assembly is then rotatedclownwardly until it rests on the horizontal flange l9a (Figure 5 of thetwo end members l9, the curved ends of the handles ID touch the fioor(Figure 3). The straps 25 are threaded under, around and over theinnermost roller anol outwardly over the outer roller and the ends laidalong the floor (Figure 5). The cylindrcal roll 31 of material, such ascarpeting or linoleum, is then placed on the strap and the strap pulledup over it. As the free ends of the straps are pulled toward the dollythe roll of material 3| 15 caused to roll up the inclined ramp formed bythe handles and onto the rollers l3. By means of the handles 8 theroller and roller mount assembly is then rotated upwardly and the bosses5 seated in the notches of the support bars2'l. The handles 8 are storedaway by pushing them down through their housngs until they rest on theinturned flanges of the angles [9.

The straps 25 may be left around the material roll, dropped back overthe top supporting roller or removed. altogether.

Once the material roll has been loadecl as described the dolly may bemoved about as desired either by pushing it or pulling it by a towingstrap attached to the hooks 24. The material may be easily unrolleolinasmuch as each of the rollers I.3 are free to turn on their bearingsM.

Although roller end roller mount assemblies on both sides of the V aredescribed as pivoted at their lower end and both may be rotateddownwardly in the operation as described only one, in any ordinaryparticular loading operation, is ac tually lowered as a ramp whle theother remains as a stop. The dolly may be easly modified to provideloading access on both sides by adding handles to the other roller androller mount assembly.

Various other modifications 01 this describad construction Will beimmediately apparent to persons acquainted Wth equipment of this typeand accordingly the hereafter appended claims should be interpreted tocover such modifications and variations excepting as said clams by theirown terms expressly require otherwise.

I claim:

1. A display doily comprising: a truck including a frame and. rotatable,floor engaging, supporting means; roller equipped material supportspivoted at one end to said truck and in one position inclined. upwardlyand. outwardly from said truck and away from each other, and in theother position at least one of them positoned parallel to said truckframe; detachable means seleetably holding said supprts in said oneposition; handles on one of said supports extensible for forminginclined ramps.

2. A material display dolly oomprising: a truck including a frame androtatable, floor engaging, supportng means; material supporting rollers;mounts for said rollers pivotally attached on 0ne end. te said frame toform of said mounts in one position a V open at each of its ends andhaving ts point of convergence at the frame and in anether position toform a substantially horizontal loading platform; detachable meansselectably holding said mounts in V forming position; handles slidablyattached to one of said mounts adapted for forming a ramp When one sideof said V is rotated downwardly.

3. A material display dolly comprising: a truck including a frame androtatable, floor engaging, supportng means; at least two pairs of rollermounts pivotally attached at one end to said truck; roller mountsupporting bars pivotally attaohed at one end to said frame andremovably attached at the other end to said roller mounts; materialsupporting rollers held by said mounts; handles at each end of saidrollers slidably attached to said roller mounts all so arranged andconstructed that when said roller mounts are rotated downwardly thehandles Will act as material loading ramps.

4. A display dolly comprising: a truck including a rectangular,elongated, base frame and supporting casters; a pair of roller mountingframes therefor, which mounting frames are pivotally attached on theirrespective one ends to the short sides of said base frame on each sideof the longitudinal centerline of said dolly and in loaded. position therespective other ends are spaced further apart than the pivotallymounted ends; freely rotating rollers mounted to said roller mountingframes; selectably operable supports for said roller mounting frames;partially curved handles selectably and extendably attached to saidroller mounting frames; said roller mounting frames and handles soarranged and constructed that in loading positon at least one of saidroller mounting frames and associated rollers may be rotated downwardly'to rest on said base frame, whereby to form a substantially horizontalramp, and said handles extended to form an inclined ramp.

5. A display dolly comprising: a truck including an elongated,rectangular base frame and supporting casters; a. pair of normallyupstanding roller mounting frames pivotally affixed to each end thereofat points on each side of the longitudinal centerline thereof;detachable supports for said roller mounting frames postoned fornormally holding same in a V position but permitting either of same upondetachment of one of said supports to lie flat on the upper surface cisaid base frame; freely rotatable rollers afixed to and extending beyondthe upper sides of said roller mounting frames; a plurality of partiallycurved h'andles and means afixing a pair of them extensibly to each ofsaid roller mounting frames; whereby either pair of said roller mountingframes may be dropped onto the base frame and the handles extended toform a loading ramp.

6. A display dolly comprising: a truck including an elongated,rectangular base frame and supporting casters; a pair of normallyupstanding and diverging roller mounting frames aflxed to each endthereof at points on each side of the longitudinal centerlne thereof,the said frames on one side of said centerline beng pivotally soafilxed; detachable supports for said pivotally affixed roller mountingframes positioned for normally holding same in a V position With respectto th other roller mounting frames but permitting them upon detachmentof said supports to lie flat on the upper surface of said base frame;freely rotatable rollers aflxed to and extending beyond the upper sidesof said roller mounting frames; a pair of partally curved handles andmeans aflxing them extensibly to each of said pivotally mounted rollermounting frames; whereby said pair of roller mounting frames may bedropped onto the base frame and the handles extended to form a loadingramp.

LEWIS A. GEISTERT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis paterrt:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,487,584 McCarthy Mar. 18, 19241,515,824 Best Nov. 18, 1924 1,597,592 Galloway Aug. 24, 1926 1,914,098Bean June 13, 1933 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 667,814 FranceJune 25, 1929

